Gautam Adani, chairman of Indian conglomerate Adani Group and one of the richest people in the world, has been indicted in New York over an alleged multi-billion dollar fraud scheme, prosecutors in the United States have said.

Authorities on Wednesday accused Adani and two other executives at Adani Green Energy, his cousin Sagar Adani and Vneet Jaain, of paying more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials between 2020 and 2024 to secure solar energy supply contracts. that are expected to yield. $2 billion in profits.

Prosecutors said the renewable energy company also raised more than $3 billion in loans and bonds during this period based on false and misleading statements.

Five other people were hit with related criminal conspiracy charges, including two executives of another renewable energy company and three employees of a Canadian institutional investor.

The Adani Group denied the allegations on Thursday.

“The allegations made by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission against the directors of Adani Green are baseless and denied,” the conglomerate said in a statement, adding that “all appropriate legal action will be pursued.”

In the wake of the US indictments, shares of Adani Group companies lost about $28 billion in market value in morning trading on Thursday, and Adani Green Energy canceled a $600 million bond sale.

Shares of Adani Green Energy fell 17 percent and shares of several other companies in the conglomerate lost more than 10 percent.

According to court documents, a judge has issued arrest warrants for Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani, and prosecutors plan to hand over these arrest warrants to foreign law enforcement agencies.

The case concerns alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a US anti-bribery law.

Seven of the eight defendants are Indian citizens and lived in India, while the eighth, Cyril Cabanes, is a dual French-Australian citizen and lived in Singapore, prosecutors said.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed related civil charges against Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Cabanes, 50, an executive at Azure Power Global. Prosecutors identified Cabanes as one of the Canadian investor’s employees.

Gautam Adani is worth $69.8 billion, according to Forbes magazine, making him the 22nd richest person in the world and the second richest person in India.

‘Extensive schedule’

“The defendants orchestrated an elaborate scheme to bribe Indian government officials to secure contracts worth billions of dollars,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement, adding that Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Jaain “lied about the bribery scheme while they were trying to scam the place.” capital from US and international investors.”

“These violations are alleged to have been committed by senior executives and directors to obtain and finance massive state energy supply contracts through corruption and fraud at the expense of American investors,” Deputy Assistant Attorney General Lisa H Miller added.

On several occasions, Gautam Adani personally met with an Indian government official to further the bribery scheme, and the defendants held personal meetings with each other to discuss aspects of its execution, prosecutors alleged.

According to the indictment, some conspirators privately referred to Gautam Adami by the code names “Numero Uno” and “The Big Man,” while Sagar Adani allegedly used his cell phone to track down details of the alleged bribes.

In January last year, US-based short seller Hindenburg Research accused Adani and his companies of stock market manipulation and fraud, which the group denied. A year later, India’s highest court ruled in favor of the group.

On Thursday, India’s opposition Congress Party called for a parliamentary investigation into alleged misconduct by the Adani Group.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of ‘protecting’ Adani.

“We demand that Adani be arrested immediately. But we know that won’t happen as Modi is protecting him,” Gandhi told a news conference in the capital New Delhi.

Last week, Gautam Adani said in a post on social media platform

He announced the investment while congratulating newly-elected US President Donald Trump on his election victory.

Trump has promised to make it easier for energy companies to drill on federal land and build new pipelines.

The $32 billion Adani Group has interests in ports, airports, power generation and transmission, and green energy, among others.